Gay student’s slur-defaced car fixed by local auto shop

Richard Henegar Jr. from a Roanoke, Va., paint and body shop teamed with 10 other area businesses to help Jordan Addison.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012, 8:16 PM

College student Jordan Addison may have had to drive a car with its windows bashed in and the words “die fag” keyed into his door for four months, but this Monday, a Virginia auto shop surprised him with a big gift.

WBDJ

Richard Henegar Jr., the manager of Quality Auto Paint and Body in Roanoke, Va., teamed up with 10 other businesses to repair gay, bullied Radford University student Jordan Addison’s car.

Richard Henegar Jr., the manager of Quality Auto Paint and Body in Roanoke, teamed up with 10 other businesses to repair the Radford University student’s car, which Addison says was vandalized on four separate occasions because he is gay.

“I was entirely speechless,” the student told the Daily News. “I just walked around saying, ‘Oh, my God, this is not my car.’”

Henegar and fellow volunteers spent 100 hours and over $10,000 adding a new scratch-resistant paint job, new tires, tinted windows, a new stereo, and a new security system to Addison’s 1999 Volkswagen.

“We don’t take kindly to discrimination of any sort here,” Henegar told the Daily News. “I was bullied in high school and a little bit in the service and I saw an opportunity to help somebody out.”

Henegar, who was informed of the situation in the spring by a friend who works at Radford, said he was shocked when he first saw Addison’s trashed car. The student had tried — unsuccessfully — to hide the slurs with spray paint and because he couldn’t afford new tires, had fitted several mismatched pair to his axles.

“As soon as I saw his car, I said, ‘We’re gonna fix this, it’s the least we can do,’” he said.

Getting local businesses to pitch in took a few months, but Henegar says just about everyone he contacted in the industry was more than happy to help.

The effort came together in beginning of August. First, Addison was given a small, red Fiat thanks in part to an Enterprise car rental agency for the two weeks of repairs. At that point, Henegar had only told Addison that his door would be repaired.

Working at night after hours and on weekends, Henegar and his team repaired the damaged car, inviting Addison back in August 20 for his big surprise.

“It just restored my faith, my good faith, in people,” Addison said.

The aspiring Ph.D. student moves back to college on August 23. He said he plans to park his revamped car in a gated parking lot with camera surveillance.

Scottie

State and Email

Just Ask

As everyone may know I support a bunch of causes. I sometimes pull stuff off the web I believe to be open to doing so. I always give credit when and where possible and I include the link to the original. If someone has a legitimate right to something posted, and you ( they ) wish it removed, simply email me at the email address above. I will removed items belonging to others that they do not wish posted here gladly, however I will not remove content simple because it is disliked or the cause it supports is against someones wishes. If your wish is to get me to removed content you simply dislike but don't own, I will not remove it. If you can show me that you do own the rights to something, I will be more than happy to remove it. Again this requires you to write me an email stating what item(s) in question, your ownership, and a request to remove it. I will respond to all such requests given sufficient time. Thanks and good surfing to you.